Atom Corporation
Atom Corporation is a Forerunner sect that believed that although the Flood were an important threat to be combatted, an equally potent threat appeared only ever on the horizon in the form of the Omega Corporation. History Evening-Luster-Of-All-Elements' Childhood One hundred thousand years ago, when the Ur-Didact, the Bornstellar Didact and the Librarian were busy fighting the Flood with the main force of the Forerunner Ecumene, the Librarian's sister, Evening-Luster-Of-All-Elements was busy tinkering with impossible things to try to ease the war effort. Evening-Luster-Of-All-Elements was one of the last of a long-forgotten rate from which only a few members remained, the Theoreticals.The Theoretical rate was a scientific rate that had been mostly absorbed into the Builder rate long before the Forerunner-Flood War. They believed that it was the duty of the Forerunners to serve the Forerunners and the Forerunners alone. They worked to improve the lives of the Forerunners in any way they could, devoting their science towards the improvement of the Forerunners and their free time towards recording the history of the Forerunners. It was during this time that she came face to face with a Forerunner who had been known to her for a long time, a man known only as Protector. Protector was raised in a Theoretical family before it was incorporated into the Builders and still shared many of their traits, being one of the foremost scientists in the Forerunner Ecumene. Protector became her teacher and her idol in many ways and she idolized him, wanting to become a Theoretical similar to his parents to make him proud. Their prior role as historians and scientists was something that Evening-Luster-Of-All-Elements was drawn to, so when she reached adolescence, she chose to follow the Theoretical rate instead of the others, working hard to become one. However, the Builders were leery of letting a Lifeworker rise that far in rank from a third-rate Lifeworker to a first-rate Builder. So for her arrogance, she was relegated to the Engineer rate, the lowest in the six-caste system. Under Protector's Wing During her time as an Engineer, a mechanic, Protector kept her close. He demanded that she be relegated to him as his personal Engineer, seeing the skills that she could possess. She travelled the galaxy with him, helping to repair anything she could. She used this as an opportunity to learn whatever she could about machinery to further make Protector proud. It was during this time that she became close with the Huragok, a species created by the Forerunner a long time ago. Evening-Luster-Of-All-Elements' close relationship with the Huragok led her to become one of the foremost Engineers, asked by the Builders to repair objects that she couldn't even begin to understand. Over time, she came to learn more and more and more about machines, helping to improve many of the current Builder designs. The Binary Rifle was entirely her creation. Impressed by her designs and her machinery skills, Protector went to the Master Builder to request her assistance on a secret project that would later be known as the greatest weapon of the Forerunners, the Halo Array. Her work kept her going across the galaxy under the Master Builder and eventually he permitted her to ascend to the rank of Theoretical as long as she continued her work. She agreed and with the help of her Huragok friends, became the first new Theoretical rate in millenia. While attempting to repair a deep space relay at the edge of the galaxy, Evening-Luster-Of-All-Elements came across a strange signal. While decoding it, she discovered that it had come from another galaxy. This type of discovery was unprecedented and she knew she would be hailed as a hero to her people - a great explorer. She believed she had discovered the Precursors, finally finding them! When she went to the Master Builder with this information that she heard a signal, he claimed that they already knew of an extra-galactic alien force and had not told anyone because of the intentions of the species that was known to the Humans and later to the Forerunners as the Flood. The Master Builder informed her that the Forerunners had been at war with them ever since the end of the Forerunner-Human War and that was the purpose of the Halos. Horrified by the revelation, Evening-Luster-Of-All-Elements began tinkering with weapon designs with Protector to try to help the Forerunners and together came up with the concept of the Defender model, based on Protector's Sentinel defense drones, but able to walk upon two or four legs to better combat the Flood where they might hide, having far more firepower than even the Enforcer offense drones, another of Protector's designs. Together with Protector, they started a line of defense known to them as Atom Warriors, which they donated to the Forerunner Ecumene in their battle against the Flood. However, Evening-Luster-Of-All-Elements was still drawn occasionally back to that mysterious signal she discovered years ago. She would occasionally tinker with the signal she had intercepted, still believing it to be a Precursor signal. Having personally fought the Flood, she thought they were not complex enough to have sent that kind of signal from outside the galaxy. She felt that the Flood were all in the galaxy, and so questioned why would they still be out in the ether between galaxies or in another galaxy sending strong signals. She knew it had to be something else. Eventually she managed to come across a single common word in the signal, but didn't know it was a word at the time. However, after hearing the transmission, Evening-Luster-Of-All-Elements' sister, the Librarian immediately recognized it as coming from a Human. A human saying the word, "Omega." According to the Librarian, the word had no meaning in any human dialect she was familiar with, but she was confident it was a human word. This would be Evening-Luster-Of-All-Elements' first encounter with the term she would forever come to hate. First Contact Omega. What did it mean? Known Atoms Evening-Luster-Of-All-Elements ION MOL 6.02x10^23, otherwise known as Ion ION 12.04x10^12, otherwise known as Iron ION 9.01x10^2 Quarks Electrons